Final Report

1. Red Mangrove Microaquarium

2. Mason Floyd, MFloyd, http://masonfloyd.blogspot.com/

3. Introduction: The living world is incredibly diverse, and much of it goes unseen by the naked eye. The objective of the Microaquarium project was to shed some light on the hidden world of common water sources. This project allowed us to observe many tiny organisms in active surroundings, which has been a wonderful learning tool.

4. Materials and Methods:
1. Materials: Microaquarium – Small observation container

Water – Taken from surroundings of a red mangrove plant

Moss – Also taken from surroundings of mangrove

Microscope

Pellet Food

2. Methods: Once a week the Microaquarium was observed and findings were reported upon in an online journal, my website http://masonfloyd.blogspot.com/. On Thursday October 25, 2007 one pellet of "Atison's Betta Food" was added to the microaquarium to provide a source of energy.
4. Results and Discussion:
1. Results: A full account of my results can be found in my blog, but I will write a summary here. Upon first inspecting the container a wide range of life was observed. I had no idea that this much life would be thriving in ordinary water. There were a large amount of ostrocods, a few single celled organisms, and the moss all interacting. Within one week many changes had occurred. The moss had begun to decay and a new organism now identified as Aeolosomatidae, a microscopic annelid had show itself. My next observation showed me the true range of life in my microaquarium. A cyanobacteria previously thought to be part of the moss was seen, Scytonema, as well as a wide range of diatoms. Some rotifers were also seen, Epiphaner. My last observation also showed some new life, a cyanobacteria thought to be Nostoc was observed. Diatoms had increased greatly in number, as well as the Scytonema.
2. Discussion: Throughout the observation period there was one organism that I always enjoyed examining, the Ostracods. Their specific classification is Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Anthropoda, Subphylum Crustacea, Class Ostracoda, Order Myodocopida¹. Ostracods have been recorded from the Cambrian period which began about 550 million years ago, but it is unsure whether to classify these early organisms as full ostracods². There are about 2000 living, fresh-water species, such as the ones observed in my microaquarium, and 10,000 recorded fossil species³. The Class Ostracoda is divided from other Crustacea with their sideways packed body, indiscriminate head, seven or less thoracic appendages and the two halved shell. The extant ostracods are also classified in many times by differences in their limbs².

This was truly a fascinating organism to watch in a natural habitat. The microaquarium project has opened my eyes to a wide range of organisms that I never knew existed. Seeing a closed and thriving ecosystem on the miniscule scale was a site to behold.

Bibliography

¹Ostracod. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seed_shrimp>. Accessed 2007 Nov 22

²Ostracods. <http://www.ucl.ac.uk/GeolSci/micropal/ostracod.html>.

Accessed 2007 Nov 22

³Ostracods. <http://www.micrographia.com/specbiol/crustac/ostraco/ostr0100.htm> Accessed 2007 Nov 26

Observation 4

Observations: Water has evaporated to below half of original water line.
Diatoms greatly increased. They were once found only arounf the rim of the aquarium, now dispersed all around the aquarium.
Shrimp seeds once again increase dramatically since last week. Many carcasses found, and immature shrimp seeds were also observed.
Unknown cyanobacteria identified as Scytonema. Scytonema have greatly increased as well. New cyanobacteria also found, thought to be Nostoc.
Some roterifers, Epiphaner, also abundant.
Four acolosoma were observed bundled together in dense moss growth

Comments/questions: A large increase in the amount of life must be due to the food pellet added to the aquarium. Water line decrease is due to the lid being off of the aquarium, allowing evaporation to occur more rapidly. My biggest question is about the four acolosoma seen grouped together. What were they doing? My first thought is that they were mating, but it was suggested to me that they were huddled around a food source and having a group "dinner". Maybe they were just lonely....... i'd say the life of a microscopic water worm is normally "single celled" haha! get it? classic.....

Post 3

Decay seems reversed in the the moss, some regeneration has occurred. Several large and small air bubbles surround the moss, a sign of photosynthesis and gas exchange.
Worm like organisms identified: Aeolosomatidae, an annelid. Only two spotted in comparison to last time when there were several swimming around.
Dramatic increase in seed shrimp
Undetermined branching cyanobacteria observed
Diatoms present around the edges of the microaquarium

Questions: The moss seems more transparent and seed shrimp are often seen around it. Are they eating the moss? Is the source of energy the reason they have increased in numbers while the annelids have declined?

Post 2

Observations: Decay noticed among the moss and algae. New translucent, worm-like organism noticed. Dragged material behind it with a fiber too small to see even with the microscope.

Questions/comments: How will the moss/algae decay affect the organisms? What was the worm-like organism dragging material with?

Micro Aquarium Setup

The term project is in full swing and here is my first post:

Water Source: Water from the bottom, middle, and top water levels of a pot containing a red mangrove plant. Also moss collected from the red mangrove stems was added

Observations: Many shrimp eggs and two kinds of single celled organisms. One kind of single celled organism observed moved in a crawling motion, while the other seemed to jet along the container using a barrel-roll type motion.

Questions/comments: How long can these organisms survive in this tiny container? And what affect will the moss bring about inside the aquarium?